


Warmth in a Cup

by Lazchan



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 13:58:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5873038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazchan/pseuds/Lazchan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jae-ha and Zeno share a quiet moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmth in a Cup

Jae-ha shook his head at his sleeping companions. All but Zeno were curled up next to each other; a pile of sleeping children. He took a long sip of the hot tea that Yun had prepared earlier before they had fallen asleep. It was an excellent stimulant tea; one or two of them were good to keep watch and they couldn’t keep on asking Shin-ah to stay awake and scout all areas.

“Old man…” he laughed a little. “I’m surprised to see you up, instead of curled among the others. It looks quite cozy.”

Zeno just shrugged and settled against Jae-ha, looking down at them. “The kids are cute, cute!” he laughed. “All snuggled together like a group of puppies.” It was warm enough that the loss of the tent wasn’t terrible, but just cool enough that the provided warmth between so many people was welcome. ’

“Don’t lie, Zeno—you’d rather be in the center of it all. I remember you grabbing onto all of us, in a happy little pile.” He passed a cup of the strong tea to Zeno. If the other was going to stay up, a hot cup of tea wouldn’t go amiss. “You really do think of all of us as children, don’t you?” He had a melancholy note to his voice and Zeno turned to him, after taking a long drink.

“Zeno thinks that everyone is his family,” he said after several moments, finger pressed to his lips in thought. “It doesn’t matter that Zeno is older, everyone is still precious to Zeno.” He leaned up against Jae-ha, accepting his warmth while the other watched over the group.

“… huh. Well, I suppose you’ve been around so long that the years seem irrelevant,” Jae-ha muttered. “You don’t seem like the old man you are; I still want to protect you like I would a younger brother. Like I would any of them.”

“Even the Mister?” Zeno teased. It went without saying that Jae-ha would so anything to protect Yona, his earlier protestations notwithstanding.  "Zeno knows that Ryokuryuu will protect more than just the Miss and his brothers, because Ryokuryuu cares very much for everyone.“

Jae-ha flushed at the somber observation and tried to away his blushes. "It’s not a beautiful thing to discriminate against those that are deserving of help,” he said loftily. “I would do anything in that manner. You may have missed when I was a pirate and burned ships, though. I didn’t care so much for those men.”

“Those men weren’t good men,” Zeno shrugged. “Zeno watched everyone, for a long time. "Zeno was in Awa when the Miss came there and watched how Ryokuryuu avoided Seiryuu and Hakuryuu.” He gave Jae-ha an impish grin. “But Ryokuryuu never found Zeno until Zeno decided to enjoy the meal that the Miss offered him.”

“That is because you’re a sly old man,” Jae-ha put his and Zeno’s empty cups aside, pulling Zeno closer to his side. No matter what Zeno said, Jae-ha did see him as someone that needed to be protected. Perhaps not in body, but in heart—to realize that he wasn’t alone anymore. “You can’t escape as easily from us now.”

Zeno laughed and closed his eyes, letting the tension leave his body, making a soft sound as Jae-ha’s fingers combed through the forever-messy fluff of bright blonde hair. “Zeno doesn’t want to escape. Not anymore… Zeno will stay with his family forever.”


End file.
